Nicholas Brendon at Supanova Pop Culture Expo

Here is a rundown of the Q&A session with Nicholas Brendon from his first of two appearances at the Supanova Pop Culture Expo, Sydney Australia on October 13th 2007.


First off he wore a pink sweater with dark pants and sunglasses. His was unshaven and his hair is longer now and not particularly tidy, but it did suit him. After removing his sunglasses he got out his camera and took a couple of pictures of the crowd. I wondered if this was to remember his visit to Australia or if it was a preventative measure for stalkers. Who knows? The following is not chronological but includes just about everything I can remember.

He was asked about his flight to Australia and said that it felt like a 2-hour flight because he slept most of the way. He flew from Los Angeles to Hong Kong and had a stop over for one night there. He slept in and missed his connecting flight to Australia. He was also asked about what he plans to do whilst in Australia. He said he has a friend who has stayed for over a year on an extended honeymoon in Australia and they will be going to Bondi beach (which he jokingly mispronounced) on Monday. He said he wouldn't be wearing Speedos though, which was a reference to the episode "Go Fish". He mentioned that the scenes at the pool in that episode were filmed at USC and he joked that it was a very, very cold day. He was also asked if he was going to do the bridge climb on the Sydney Harbour Bridge. He said he was booked to do it but he wasn't sure if he would as he might spend more time with his friend.

A recurring joke throughout the session was that he eats people. This stemmed from a reference to Xander being possessed by a Hyena spirit. He was asked what his favourite Xander was and he decided on Hyena-Xander because it set the show for him early on. He was asked a similar question later and said his favourite to play as an actor was when he was under Dracula's spell. He said it was hard to talk really fast though. He also joked that "wouldn't it be funny if I really do eat people and I'm admitting it but you all think I'm joking" which made everyone laugh.

He was asked about scoring the role of Xander and said it was between him and another actor, Ryan Reynolds (who was Joss Whedon's first choice). He had another project though and Nicholas had a good final audition. He mentioned that he is 36 now and joked that given his previous roles he will probably be playing his age when he reaches his 70s.

Something interesting he also mentioned is that he was originally intended to play the lead character on "Serenity". Apparently Joss spoke to him in his trailer and told him he was writing this project for him to star in. It was originally supposed to occur after Buffy finished but the series came into being faster than expected and Nicholas obviously didn't get the role. He said it was a special thing for him that Joss was doing that.

He talked about his twin brother Kelly and an occasion when they were on a trip to Yosemite and a group of people thought he was Nicholas. When he said that he was his brother the people threw fries. Someone asked what the weirdest thing anyone had done to him was. He jokingly asked if this was a sexual question and then decided that God splitting his mom's egg in two was probably the weirdest thing anyone had done to him. He also joked about if his brother committed a crime it could be pinned on him through DNA.

He spoke about taking a break in the last few years and how he was ready to get back to work again. He detailed some of his film/TV projects outside of Buffy. He mentioned the half-hour sitcom pilot he filmed while still filming Buffy, which was not picked up. Someone mentioned "Piñata" (aka "Demon Island") and said it was a bad film. He admitted it was a bad film and said it was about the paycheck in that instance but "who wouldn't want to work with a piñata?" He was asked if the pink sweater he was wearing was the same as the one from "Celeste in the City" (weird question) but he said he didn't really remember what he wore in regard to the question. He spoke most fondly of his film "Psycho Beach Party". He mentioned that it has a Gay following in the US and that he enjoyed being part of the film. He mentioned that he worked with Thomas Gibson, who he has now also worked with on the series "Criminal Minds". He has filmed one episode and is hopeful to do more. He said he likes having a badge on the show and described his character as a computer person who is a love interest for the character of Garcia. He was asked about "Kitchen Confidential" and said that it was an intense shooting schedule as, being filmed in a kitchen, everyone had to remain for everyone else's scenes. He would have liked the show to go longer though and said that in the final episodes the stories moved more out of the kitchen environment. Someone asked about how it is to move from comedy to his dramatic role in "Unholy". He didn't mention anything about "Unholy" but said that it's easier to do drama because comedy involves beats, and he has the emotion for drama inside him (I can't remember exactly what he said, but it was something about having a dark side to him).

Some guy claimed to ask the question everyone would be thinking but hadn't thought to ask. Why on Earth would Joss cast such a tiny little thing like Sarah Michelle Gellar to play this butt-kicking girl? The guy was particularly concerned with how tiny she is and that she must have had to stand on boxes a lot. I'm sure this question caused a few eye rolls among fans. Nicholas explained Joss' intention in having Buffy be physically unimposing and said that at some point everyone had to stand on a box due to the "magic of Hollywood".

He spoke about his appreciation for Joss' writing and also having a script that allows little room for an actor to make changes. He said that intonation is something an actor can use to bring their interpretation to the lines. He was asked who Xander's favourite girlfriend would be and the answer he came up with was Faith. I guess for the obvious reason. Someone asked about the look Xander and Spike shared in the episode where the joke was made about everyone in the group having slept together. He put it down to the fact they were just made awkward by the idea of it. He also talked about Nathan Fillion poking his eye out in the final season and having fake blood get in his eye.

He was asked if he still sees his fellow Buffy cast members. "I see Alyson the most. I saw Sarah - I live in Venice Beach and Sarah was shopping in Santa Monica and we ran into each other. That was nice. She lives in New York now so we don't really kind of talk. I haven't seen Tony in the longest time. I saw Marsters at an audition about a month ago. Who else? Emma, Emma Caulfield has fallen off the face of the planet. And I see Juliet, I talked to her. Her mom directed me in a play. So I guess I do. I see more people from this show than I did from my last show."

During the interview he got a message on his phone, which he checked. He said it was his girlfriend letting him know she just got home. She has just started to watch the series and he has been watching it with her. When asked who his favourite big-bad was he said it was the Master. But he is not a fan of "the little kid" (the Anointed One) and made a mocking impression of the character.

There were green lights projected on the wall behind him and toward the end of the session he looked at his arm and realised and he was like "Is there a green light in here!?" He thought he might have jaundice, which made everyone laugh.

He was asked about "Once More, With Feeling" and said it was "The best episode we did. Well, best musical episode anyway." He enjoyed the singing and the dancing and said that he didn't have a problem singing as he wasn't hired to be a singer. In response to a question he added that it was their own voices except for some vocal corrections that were made after their voices were recorded. Towards the end of the session he was asked to sing for the audience, which he did after trying to recall the lyrics to "I'll Never Tell". After he sang he got a huge applause.

That's it I guess. He was hugely popular with the fans and there weren't enough seats so there was a huge crowd standing at the back of the room. He had photographs taken and signed autographs all morning before his session at 1pm and did so again after the talk. He also did an interview, which I figure will be broadcast on the Australian Sci-Fi channel at some point in the future.

Nicholas Brendon Videos (Updated)

Nicholas Brendon talks about seeing his former Buffy cast members.


Nicholas Brendon sings a couple of lines from the Buffy musical.


This is a video someone else took from the second day. It's Nicholas Brendon and Nicki Clyne ("Battlestar Galactica") singing 'Tainted Love' at the Sony Singstar booth.


Singing with Nicki Clyne (short clip).

Nicholas Brendon Photos

Nicholas Brendon signing an autograph.

Talking with Nicki Clyne ("Battlestar Galactica") and Lani Tupu ("Farscape").